Face it TOGETHER and LRXD Help "Break the Cycle"

Health and Happiness advertising agency LRXD has created an integrated campaign to raise awareness and drive traffic to the new Face it TOGETHER addiction support center (FIT) in Denver. Creative Director, Jamie Reedy, took the time to give us some deeper insights into the campaign.

 

 

Tell us about your role in the creation of this work. 

As creative director, I helped nuance the initial idea envisioned by the creative team, Ashley Rutstein (ACD) and Kelsey Steffes (senior art director). 

 

Give us an overview of the campaign, what is it about? 

The campaign demonstrates the delicate balance between success and failure surrounding addiction and how the right kind of help can tip the scales. It’s designed to speak to the two audiences Face It TOGETHER works with—people with the disease and their loved ones. One portion of the campaign features dashboard confessionals in which people celebrate their “first” day of sobriety over and over again, as they spiral into despair. The other piece of the campaign conveys the cycle of addiction through neon signs that flash conflicting messages on and off. 

 

Tell us about the details of the creative brief, what did it ask?

The brief explained that there’s no shortage of recovery options out there, but they share what indicates that someone is “better”: getting sober. Face It TOGETHER was created because they saw a need to conquer addiction and get people well more holistically. The organization is also new to this city, so it’s an unknown resource. Our creative executions needed to work hard to communicate what the brand is and why they’re different from other programs—and convince a jaded audience that has been disappointed many times before. 

 

Which insight led to the creation of this piece of work?

When it comes to addiction, the only metric anyone places any value on is sobriety. Face It TOGETHER believes being sober doesn’t necessarily mean better. Yes, it’s part of getting well, but substance abuse is oftentimes the outcome of deeper emotional issues and trauma. Face It TOGETHER treats these root causes of addiction rather than just the symptoms—and gauges wellness against varied criteria. Our chief strategy officer, Eric Kiker, helped us uncover this compelling brand difference. 

 

Can you share with us any alternative ideas (if any) for this campaign? Why was this idea chosen?

The insight allowed us to go wide with the thinking. Without getting into specific executions, our initial round of work explored tone (from emotional to comedic), how to create an ownable look and feeling for the brand, and how hard to go at competitors—some of whom have very antiquated ways of treating this disease. We settled where we did—with a mix of animation and spots that can be viewed low-fi on an iPhone—primarily because it genuinely hit a nerve and allowed us to create a variety of versions within a tight production budget.

 

How did the client initially react to this idea?

Many of the people who lead Face It TOGETHER have beaten addiction. They all thought the concept of repeating the cycle of starting over on the road to recovery, day after day, (“Groundhog’s Day” style) provocatively captured the feeling they had personally experienced and agreed it resonated with the audience.

 

What was the greatest challenge that you and your team faced during development?

Nailing the right tone took some work because it’s easy to go really dark and make people feel like they are the problem. But addiction is a disease that deserves to be treated like any other, so we made sure people felt like there was hope at the end of the tunnel—while still being honest with them.

 

What did you enjoy most about seeing this campaign through? Did you learn anything new from the experience?

The idea was reliant on great actors—just sitting alone with a phone in a car—and we felt lucky to have found such talented people. The whole experience was a good reminder that the power of a great idea and talent supersedes a huge budget any day.

 

Where do you see this campaign going in the future?

It’s working really well, so we’re in planning for next year. It’ll likely include more videos plus a selection of other hard-hitting tactics in 2019. We like where the bar has been set.